How will the Obama administration respond to the shootings of two Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Mexico?

The Tuesday murder of one agent and the wounding of another puts the administration's feet to the fire as has no other incident so far in Mexico or along the border.

The administration has skated on a number of incidents so far, including the murder of an Arizona rancher, the killing of a Border Patrol agent in Arizona, the shooting death of an American missionary, the shooting death of an American jet skier on Falcon Lake, the killings of two El Paso students in Juárez ... and who knows what we haven't even heard about.

There's been little or no response, a seeming effort to sweep the incidents under the rug.

We do, however, toss Mexico a billion-plus dollars in equipment and such under the dignified name Mérida Initiative to fight drug cartels. Just like the bulk of our foreign aid money, it is wasted and some may even go to factions unfriendly to us.

The administration's foreign- policy and diplomatic gambits with Mexico are about as effective as the country's foreign policy in general. U.S. foreign policy is an unfixable hash, and our relationship with Mexico is no exception.

Having just lost Egypt, the U.S. is trying to figure out what to do about other Middle East countries that are jumping on the "Let's Have a Day of Rage" bandwagon.

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And you have to believe that rulers in Saudi Arabia, a putative American ally, have to be shaking in their boots and wondering if they're next, and if so, what the United States will do _ or will not do -- about it.

So the Middle East is going up in flames. China owns us, lock, stock and debt. Relations with Russia are hovering around 32 degrees.

So far the U.S. government has been flailing around impotently when it comes to taking definitive action in and with Mexico. U.S. response to Mexico violence, even against Americans, has been little more than tepid rhetoric.

We "condemn." We "reject." We "deplore."

But the shootings of the two ICE agents on Tuesday upped the ante. Or should have. It had been blithely assumed that U.S. agents in Mexico were "immune" from attack and assassination.

U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said of the shootings, "This is a complete game-changer."

"They are changing the rules," he said.

McCaul said that this was a direct assault on the United States and that we must respond "forcefully."

Don't bet on it. When have we been forceful with Mexico -- or any other country, for that matter?

Now, no American law-enforcement officer can be considered safe in Mexico -- and you have to think a lot of them are in-country. Also, they cannot defend themselves, because they aren't authorized to carry guns.

At the very least, the Obama administration should insist that U.S. law-enforcement officers in Mexico be allowed to carry weapons for self-defense.

As McCaul said, the game has changed. The question is, who's going to write the rules for the new game?